Winding long flexible body



Nov. 18, 1 941.

w. G. LEA

WINDING LONG FLEXIBLE BODY I Filed Aug. 27, 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet l IINVENTOR W/W/am Ga /ye Zea Nov. 18, 1941. w. G. LEA 2,262,850

WINDING LONG FLEXIBLE BODY Filed Aug. 27, 1938 G'Sheets-Sheet 2 @ihw I ATTORNEY-5 Nov. 18, 1941. w. G} LEA 2,262,850

WINDING LONG FLEXIBLE BODY Filed Aug. 27, 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR //////am Ge'o/ ye Zea ATTORNEYS Nov. 18, 1941. w. G. LEA 2,262,850

WINDING LONG FLEXIBLE BODY Filed Aug. 2'7, 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR /4 ////am @eozye Zea ATTORNEYS Nov. 18, 1941. w. G. LEA 2,262,850

WINDING LONG FLEXIBLE BODY Filed Aug. 27', 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 m Fl .2

iii

| (Z2222 J6 makes (W0 rem/z/Zzbmr/a ave of (22 292 J6 I l I INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Nov. 18, 1941. w LEA WINDING LONG FLEXIBLE BODY Filed Aug. 27, 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 I INVENTOR Z//6m2 690 96 [8Q Patented Nov. 18, 1941 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WINDING LONG FLEXIBLE BODY William George Lea, Rome, Ga., assignor to Tubize Chatillon Corporation, New. York, N. Y-, a corporation of Delaware Application August 27, 1938, Serial No. 227,100

3 Claims.

other artificial filaments, the filaments as they are formed are withdrawn from a bath of coagulant or precipitant and collected as a package on a bobbin or spool. Thereafter, it is customary to wash and desulphurize the resulting yarn package while still retaining it on the bobbin. In one of the heretofore customary practices, this is accomplished by winding the yarn on a bobbin made in the form of a foraminous drum. After winding, the drum is withdrawn from the winding machine and its ends are closed. Washing liquor is then forced through the yarn package either by immersing the package in a bath and applying suction to the inside of the drum to draw the liquid through the package or by forcing the liquid into the interior of the drum from whence it escapes through perforations and thence through the package itself. In either case, it is important that the yarn be wound on the drum in such a way as to provide a minimum of intercommunicating voids through which the liquor will pass in preference to diffusing through the package as a whole. A channel of such interusually during a twisting operation in which the package is spun at relatively high speed on its axis of rotation so that the yarn tends to be thrown outwardly from the axis. In any case, if the package is rotated rapidly during unwinding about the axis upon which it was wound, a considerable centrifugal force isexerted upon the package so that successive layers of the yarn tend to become separated and the whole package to assume a loose condition. This tends to cause the package to slough. Sloughing may bring about tangling of the yam with resultant breakage of some or all of the filaments.

As a result of my investigations, I have discovered that a yarn package having improved washability and greater resistance to sloughing during unwinding may be formed by winding yarn upon a rotating body, such as a bobbin, while the yarn is reciprocating through a stroke transverse to the length of the yarn, provided that the length of the stroke isprogressively reduced as the'yarn builds up on the body and while the position of the traverse stroke back and forth along the body if shifted. This traverse motion results in a package with tapered interlocking ends, and in which superposed cross-wound helices of yarn.

are so disposed that a high degree of washing eiiiciency may be obtained by forcing a minimum amount of fiuid through the package. Moreover, a package thus formed has a very high resistance to sloughing, even though the yarn beunwound from the package while the package is rotated at very .high speed so that the yarn tends to be thrown outward from the package by centrifugal force. My invention, therefore, contemplates the improvement in a process of winding yarn upon a rotating body while the yarn, is reciprocated through a stroke transverse to the length of the yarn which comprises progressively reducing the length of the stroke as the yarn builds up on the body while shifting the position of the stroke back and forth along the body, whereby there is formed a package with tapered interlocked ends having improved washability and greater resistance to sloughing during unwinding. A preferred appa-' ratus for practicing my above-described improvements in the process of winding long flexible bodies is described and claimed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 122,493, filed January 27, 1937, now Patent No. 2,159,032. I

My invention will be more clearly understood in the light of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a mechanism of my invention for controlling traverse motion;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a preferred form of traverse mechanism of my invention;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, taken along the line 3-3 of'Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a partial plan of the apparatus of Fig. 2;

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are detailed elevations of various parts of the apparatus of Fig. 2.

Fig."8 is a diagrammatic illustration showing how the cross-wound helices and the tapered in-- J, disposed with its longitudinal axis more or less vertical and mounted on a pivot, such as a lug K, at a point about midway along the lever. The lug in turn is mounted on a horizontally disposed lower slider L which isadapted to reciprocate back and forth in a horiZontal'direction.-"

The upper end of the lever is slotted to receive a pin M, which is mounted on a second or upper slider N. Thissecond slider is also adapted to reciprocate in a horizontal direction, preferably through a longer stroke than the first slider but at a fixed rate with respect thereto.

The rocking shaft 0, with its longitudinal axis, at right angles to the first and second slider, passes through a large aperture Pin the lower portion of the lever. The aperture is definedby branches P, P of the leverland is wide enough to permit the lever to swing through a full stroke without touching the rocking shaft. The extreme lower end of the lever is forked, to define a slot Q having parallel sides. Into the slot Q is slidably fitted a wrist pin R which is mounted on a rocker arm S. The rocker arm S is fastened rigidly to the rocker shaft, which in turn carries at least one rigidly mounted traverse arm T, the lower end of whichfits slidably into a horizontal'cross member T. The cross member is adapted to slide longitudinally in supports or ments Y, Z passing through the guides are thus wound in a series of spirals of alternating direction on the respective bobbins.

At the same time, however, the lower slider is also reciprocated. Thus, the position along the cake at which the filam nt is laid onto the cake is changed. This resul in a periodic scrambling or staggeringofthe, spirals of filaments being wound on the bobbins.

overlapped, and the development of continuous channels in the cak of wound filaments-through terstices between adjacent filaments in preceding spirals are thus yarn package are obtained;

- of the respective bobbins.

shortening of stroke is obtained by gradually dropping guide L in which the. lower slider isg mounted.

The means for accomplishing the simultaneous horizontal reciprocation of both upper and lower sliders of Fig. 1 and the gradual increase in the distance between them is shown in detail in the other figures, ,to which attention is now directed. Referring now to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, it, will be seen that a plurality of horizontally disposed rotatablebobbins I,.IA, are placed side by side in 'the lower portion 'of the 'apparatus and are rotated by spiral gears 2, 2A mounted firmly on a horizontal drive shaft 3 running the length of the apparatus at right angles to the axes of rotation of the bobbins. The worm gears mesh respectively with spiral cogs 4,;4A'fastened to shafts 5, 5A The horizontal drive shaft is rotatable in'synchronism'with the traverse mechanism by a means such as a conventional compensating mechanism (not shown) which decreases the rotational speed of the bobbins as cakes of filaments build up on them.

In th apparatus -illustrated,-each bobbin shaft 5, 5A,supp orts a bobbin at either end. is a conventional system of mounting bobbins for rayon winding, the advantage of such a system being that a single mechanism serves to drive a plurality of guides and bobbins in synchronism with each other. It will be understood, however,

that the invention is applicable to the control of a single filament guide and a single filament collecting means.

which washing solutions will pass in preference to penetrating the whole cake is precluded.

If a cake withtapered'e'nds is desired, thisfiis secured by gradually increasing the distance be tween the lug K at the pivot and the pin M on the upper slider, while the yarn is' being -wbund The bobbin shafts are each supported ina pair of bearings, 6, 6A fastened respectively to opposite sides of a hollow base lof conventional form.

Extending lengthwiseof the apparatus in a horizonal line above the center of the base is a rocking shaft 8 supported in conventional bear-' ings (not shown).

A plurality of traverse arms 9 (one for each bobbin shaft) are clamped on the rocking shaft by collars l0 and hang from the rocking shaft.

Each traverse arm (through a slotted horizontally slidable connector 9A supported on horizontal rods 9B, 9C, which are fastened to a housing H) connects with a horizontal guide arm 'I l., which is supported in bearings I 2, I3 in the lower -portion of the housing I for the traverse mechanism. The arm ll is adapted to slide lengthwise through these bearings, and carries' filament guides l5, H5 at its two ends.

Filaments, such as freshly spun rayon yarn, v

are fed from above through the guides and thence to the bobbins to bewound. As the rock a upon themovmentimparted 'to' a main lever l1.

through the guides onto the bobbins.- If the'lug and pin are both reciprocated through" strokes of constant length, and the distance between them is increased gradually, the result. is agradualde;

las-

The lower end of thislever connected to a rocking arm I8 throughia'wrist pin IS'whichisf 'slidably mounted in a longitudinal slot-"in"the j lever. fi he rocking arnfi fastened'rigidly atits I upper "end'to the ro-ckingjshaft by' a split collar the lengths of the spirals of filaments formed on thebobbins grow progressively shorter as the' cakes of wound filaments. build up. 1

lanai 'tlier'eto.

Before proceeding further, it is desirab In the apparatus /Fia lit e e e-f er ne a emanev rinide m nyh y 'Qf lever.

rocking shaft to one side of the main lever and or less vertically on the pivot lug at about its midpoint. Just below the point of mounting, the lever has an expanded portion 22, defined by two outwardly bent side pieces or branches 23, 24, between which the rocking shaft passes. The distance between the two side pieces is such as to permit the lever to swing through its maximum stroke without touching the rocking shaft.

It would be possible to dispense with the rocking shaft altogether, by mounting the horizontal guide arm II or the guides themselves directly on the lower end of the main lever. The rocking shaft is only employed so that it may support a plurality of guide arms and guides, andthus avoid placing additional weight on the main It would also be feasible ,to mount the still impart a rocking motion to it through the rocking arm. In either of these cases it would be unnecessary to have the expanded portion in the main lever with the hole between. However, the illustrated type of structure is prefersame elevations as the rollers.

main lever, with a consequentshortening of the average stroke of the filament guides. If a square ended filament package is desired, means for progressively lowering the pivot lug may be eliminated from the machine, or better still, included in the machine with means for rendering it inoperative when square-ended packages are desired.

'The upper slider carrying the pin on its rear face has a pair of horizontal pins 32, 33 on its front face, spaced equidistant from the middle of the slider. Each pin has a roller 34, 35 mounted concentrically on it, and fitted between the two rollers is an eccentric heart-shaped cam 36, mounted on a horizontal drive shaft 31 which extends parallel to the rocking shaft at about the The shaft 31 is adapted to be turned continuously from a horizontal main drive mechanism'such as a motor (not shown) through any of the conventional compensator mechanisms (not shown) for decreasing the speed of rotation of the bobbin as able because it is symmetrical and permits many traverses to becontrolled by a single mechanism. The portion of the main lever extending above the pivot lug has a longitudinal slot in its upper end defined by two sides 26, 21. In the slot is slidably disposed a pin 28 which is fastened at its front to a horizontally disposed upper slider 29 which is adapted to be reciprocated in a horizontal direction through a constant and relatively long stroke. In other words, the pin 28 is fastened to the horizontal slider 29 and acts as a bearing for a sliding block 28A which is free tomove up or down between the sides 2B2'I of the longitudinal slot 25 in the rocking lever. I

The pivot lug upon which the main lever hangs will now be apparent. The upper slider reciprocates through its relatively long stroke and swings the upper end of the main lever through this stroke, so that the filament guides are swung back and forth along the length of the bobbins. Simultaneously the pivot upon which the lever swings is also reciprocated back and forth through a constant but shorter stroke, preferably in a constant timed relationship with the motion Thus periodically the l'iori-- of the upper slider. zontal movement of the lower end of the main lever J is increased and decreased and then in-. creased again, so that staggering and overlapping of successive spirally wound layers of filaments occur on the bobbins. I

At the same time, if filament packages with tapered ends are desired, the pivot lug is lowered progressively during the winding. This has the effect of increasing the distance between the fulcrum' lug and the pin on the upper slider. This,

.in turn, increases mechanical advantage in favor of the upper portion of the main lever as compared with the lower portion thereof, which has the effect of progressively shortening the average horizontal movement of the lower end of the the filament is built up on it. The same compensating mechanism preferably also is employed for rotating the horizontal shaft 3, for example, through a pair of mitre gears I00, IOI, a vertical shaft I02, and another pair of mitre gears I03, I04. As shown in Fig. 2, the mitre gear I00 is mounted on the drive shaft 31, the vertical shaft carries the gears IOI, I03, and the remaining mitre gear I04 is mounted on the shaft 3.

The shaft 3'! is supported in a bearing 38 formed integrally with a support 39 which in turn rests on the traverse mechanism housing I4.

Rotation of the shaft 31 causes the heartshaped cam to bear first against one of the rollers and then against the other, causing the upper slider to reciprocateand swing the upper end of the main lever back and forth. I prefer to employ the heart-shaped cam, because of the improved motion it imparts to the filament guide. However, if desired, a simple eccentrically-disposed circular cam may be employed, or cams of other shapes may be used.

Now considering the portion of the mechanism employed to reciprocate the lower slider upon which the fulcrum lug is fastened, it will be seen that a horizontal auxiliary shaft 40 extends lengthwise down the center of the machine at its uppermost part. The auxiliary shaft is supported" at its front end in a bearing 4| which, like the bearing 38, is formed integrally with the support 39. At its rear end the auxiliary'shaft rests in a bearing 42 which in turn isfastened to traverse mechanism housing I4. A gear 43 mounted on the front of the auxiliary shaft meshes with an idler gear 44 which is rotatably mounted on astud 45 which fastens into the support 39. The idler gear in turn meshes with a gear 31A fastened rigidly on the shaft 31. At the rear of the auxiliary shaft is fasteneda 45 mitre gear 46 which meshes with a companion mitre gear 41 mountedv on a vertical axis at the rear of the I mechanism. The companion gear 41 is keyed slidably on a vertical shaft 48 by means of a key 49, so that while both vertical shaft and companion gear may be rotated together, the shaft may slide up and down as the occasion requires.

The vertical shaft is carried in a telescopic bearing 50, the upper portion 5| of which is slidable inside the lower portion 52. The upper portion is fastened to the rear bearing 42 of the auxiliary shaft 40. .The lower portion 52 is carried ing 52.

by a bracket 53 which in turn is mounted on the rear of the guide member 3| which carries the lower slider on which the fulcrum is mounted. A 45 mitre gear 54 is mounted rigidly on the bottom of the vertical shaft. A collar 55, carried inside the lower portion of the-telescope bearing and rigidly .mounted on the vertical shaft, takes the thrust of the vertical shaft and keeps it in constant vertical relationship with the lower portion of the telescopic bearing. The thrust collar 55 is pinned to the vertical shaft 48, thus setting the relationship between the shaft 48, the mitre gear 54 and the lower portion 52 of the telescopic bearing. Hence, the thrust collar 55 carries the weight of the shaft 48 and the mitre gear 54. When the slide 3| is raised back into starting position the collar 55. is the means by which the shaft 48 and the gear 54 is raised with the slide.

The bearing 52, which, as indicated above, is fastened to the slide 3| (by means of the bracket 53) is bored out to the point where the collar 55 rests; and the bearing 5| (which is held station ary by the upper structure 42, etc.) has a lower reduced portion milled on its outside surface and integral with the bearing 5|. The milled surface of the bearing 5| fits slidably into the bear- Thus, the parts 5| and 52 form a telescopic bearing which allows the part 52 to move downward carrying the shaft 48 with it.

A short horizontal shaft 55 is rotatably mounted in and passes through the bracket 53 andthe guide member 3|. A 45 mitre gear 51 is rigidly mounted on the rear of the short shaft in continuous engagement with the-mitre gear carried on the lower end of the vertical shaft. A small heartshaped cam 58 is rigidly and eccentrically mounted on the front of the short shaft between a pair of rollers 59, 88, carried respectively on pins 5|, 52 mounted on the rear face of the lower upper sliders, thereremains to be described the means whereby the vertical distance between these two sliders may be progressively increased during the windingoperation, tothe end that the average traverse stroke is progressively decreased and the package with tapered ends is wound.

The upper slider 29'projects through the sides of the housing and on one end is bolted a downwardly-projecting vertical strap 53 which in turn carries a wedge 54 pointing in toward the housing and having an inclined surface sloping in the direction of the housing. Resting on the upper surface of the wedge isan end of a ratchet lever 55 which is rotatably mounted on'a horizontal shaft 55 passing through thehousing from front to back. A ratchet wheel 51 is rigidly mounted on the shaft 55 and on the upper face of ratchet lever 55 a'ratchet pawl .58 is mounted. 6.)

As the upper slider is reciprocated, the wedge is also reciprocated, thus periodically pressing (See Fig.

the ratchet lever up and then permitting it to drop. The ratchet pawl carried on the ratchet lever thus periodically engages the ratchet'wheel and turns it and the horizontal shaft 55 to which it is attached in a clockwise directionas viewed from the front. (See Fig. 6.)

At the rear end of the shaft 55 a gear 59 is rigidly mounted. This gear meshes with another gear 18 disposed at the outside thereof and mounted rigidly on a horizontal shaft 1| which runs lengthwise of the machine, 1. e. parallel to the rocking shaft (see Fig. 4). The shaft 1| also carries a rigidly mounted worm 12. The worm engages a worm wheel 13 disposed on a horizontal axis above the worm and at right angles thereto. The worm wheel is rigidly mounted on a shaft 14 parallel to the upper slider and at about the same elevation but disposed behind it in the machine. On the left end of the shaft 14, as viewed from the front, a pinion 15isfastened. (See Fig.5.)

Another horizontal shaft, 15 is mounted in a pair of bearings 11, 18 fastened in the housing near the respective extremities of said shaft. The shaft 15 is disposed parallel to, but substantially below, the shaft 14, and carries a pair of pinions 19, 88 which engage respectively a pair of Vertical racks 8|, 82 mounted on the sliding member 3|, upon which the lower slider is mounted. r I The sliding member 3| is provided with vertical rails 83, 84 formed integrally therewith on both sides, said rails being slidably mounted respectively in vertical guides 85, 85 which are fastened to the housing |4. -.The right end of shaft 15, viewedfrom the front, carries a rigidly'mounted spur pinion 81, and a rotatably mounted sector arm 88. The pinion 81 meshes with idler gear 98, which in turn meshes with pinion 15. (See Fig, 5.) The sector arm slants upwardly to the rear of the On the end of the shaft 14 opposite bearing 18 (onthe left) is a handwheel 9| for turning the sliding member 3| back to an upper position after packages with tapered ends have beenwound on the bobbins. The hand wheel 9| is rigidly fastened to the worm gear 13 and rotates with it during the winding operation. At the end of the winding operation -it'is necessary to return the slide 3| to its starting position and to do this the worm gear must be freed. So the v worm is dropped out of mesh by lifting the counterweight which has the cam end 94 supporting the worm in mesh position wit wor gear 13. Lifting of the counterweight frees the worm gear (see Fig. -'l). The worm gear can then be turned by the-hand wheel 9|. Through the train of gears at the other end of the shaft 14, i. e., gears 15, 98 and 81, the rack pinions 19 and 88-raise the slide 3| up to starting position. Y

There remains for description only that portion of the mechanism whereby the means for lowering the sliding member 3| is out out of the machine (i. e. when 'it is desired to wind packages with square ends).

vThe shaft II which carries the pinion I and the worm I2 is mounted in a horizontal bearing fastened to a bracket 92 which is, rotatable around the shaft 66 on which its inner end is fastened (see Fig. 7). On the lower side. and at the outer end of the bracket is a button 93. When packages with tapered ends are to be formed the button is held up by a rest 94 pivoted around a shaft 95 and having a counterweight 96 fastened to it by a lever 91. The counterweight rests on a horizontal shelf 98 fastened to the outside of the housing on the left side of the machine as viewed from the front. When the counterweight is raised to a position slightly above the shelf, the bracket drops and disengages the worm and the worm gear. With the counterweight in this position, the sliding member 3| may be raised by turning the hand wheel.

When packages with tapered ends are to be wound, i. e. when the average traverse stroke is to be progressively shortened asthe filaments build up on the bobbins, the pivot lug upon which the main lever is mounted is progressively lowered, so that the ratio of the distance from upper slider to fulcrum lug to the distance from pivot lug to lower end of the main lever is gradually increased. This is accomplished by means of the reciprocating upper slider 29 which periodically, i. e. for each complete rotation of the shaft 31, pushes the wedge 64 in against the pawl lever '65 and thus causes the pawl ratchet 63 t push the sprocket 61 through a fixed number of de-,

grees in a clockwise direction.

If the counterweight 96 is dropped onto the shelf 98, so that the worm I2 engages the worm wheel 13, the rotation of the sprocket 61 will be imparted to the worm wheel through the shaft 66, the pinions 69, 10, the shaft II and the worm I2. Rotation of the worm.wheel in turn causes the shaft I4 to turn and with it the pinion IS. The rotation of pinion I5 is imparted to theshaft I8 through the idler pinion 90 and the pinion 8'I. Rotation of the shaft I6 causes the pinions I9, to lower the racks 8| and ,82 and with the racks the sliding member 3| which carries the lower slider with the pivot lug 2| mounted upon it.

- When the packages have been wound the counterweight is raised and the bracket drops so that worm and worm gear are disengaged. Then by turning the hand wheel so that the direction of rotation of the shaft I4 is reversed, the sliding member 3| is moved up again to the starting position.

It will be noted that as the sliding member 3| is lowered the reciprocation of the lower slider 30 is not interfered with, because the shaft 48 connecting the two sets of mitre gears 46, 41, 54,

51 at the rear of the machine, in effect becomes.

longer because of the sliding key 49.

.The formation of a yarn package with c osswound helices and tapered interlocked ends is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 8, which shows how the motion of the cams 36, 58, and the gradual shortening of the stroke affect the lay of the yarn on the package. The lay of the new yarn in a package in accordance with the invention is illustrated by Fig. 9.

Considering Figs. 8 and 9, it will be observed that the yarn in being wound in a package is first wound around a bobbin from a point A to a point B. The course of the yarn between points A and B is shown by a full line, The yarn is then wound in the opposite direction to a point C on the bobbin, the course of the yarn between B and C beingshown by a full line. The yarn next pursues a path from C to D and thence back to E' along a course shown by a series of long dashes. The yarn is then wound from point E to point F and thence back to point G, the course of the yarn in this instance being shown by a dot and dash line. Lastly, the yarn is wound from point G to point H and thence back to point I, the course of theyarn from G to I being shown by a line of short dashes.

Fig. 10 shows diagrammatically the interlocked ends of the yarn package brought about by the gradual shortening of the transverse strokes at the same time that alternate strokes are overlapped.

It will be apparent that modifications in the mechanism described hereinbefore may be made by men skilled in the art without, however, de-

parting from the basic concept of my invention.

I claim: 1. In a process in which yarn is wound upon a rotating body while the yarn is reciprocated in a stroke' approximately parallel to the axis of rotation of the body to form a package in the form of a series of cross-wound helices, 'the improvement-which comprises progressively reducing the' length of the stroke-while periodically displacing the position of the' stroke alternately in opposite directions substantially parallel to the axis ofrotation, whereby sloughing of the yarn from the body during unwinding, by rotation of the package at relatively high speed, is inhibited.

2. In a process in which yarn is wound upon a rotating body while traversing back and forth in a stroke along the body to forma package and subsequently unwound from the package, the steps which comprise progressively shortening the length of the stroke as the yarn builds up to The two cams 36, 58 of the apparatus preferform the package while periodically displacing 1 the position of the stroke in opposite directions along the body so that a package with tapered interlocked ends is formed and thereafter unwinding the yarn by centrifugal force while the package is rotated at a relatively high speed.

3'. In a process of winding yarn upon a rotating' body while the yarn is reciprocated through a stroke transverse to the length of the yarn and along the body, the improvement which comprises progressivelyreducing the length of the traverse stroke as the yarn builds up on-the body while shifting the position of the traverse strokeba01 and forth along he body. whereby there is formed a package with tapered interlocked ends having improved washability and greater resistance to sloughing during unwinding.

jwmnuu GEORGE LEA.

tapered I 

